The New Testament on the Second Coming of Jesus

Guest post by Justin Alfred

Previous posts in this series:

• Part 1 – They Shall Not Escape
• Part 2 – How We Should Think About the Second Coming of Jesus
• Part 3 – Prophetic Promises and the Law
• Part 4 – Prophetic Promises from the Old Testament Prophets
• Part 5 – Prophetic Promises and the “Writings”
• Part 6 – The Dead Sea Scrolls on the First Coming of Jesus
• Part 7 – The Old Testament on the Second Coming of Jesus

We now enter the primary focus of this study, and that is the analysis of New Testament prophecies concerning the Second Coming of Jesus. We will begin with Matthew 24, and unpack from there over the next few weeks. This passage is of primary significance in that Jesus was the one giving this prophetic insight.

There are several important issues we will look at in this portion of Scripture, and I will number them as we go through:

1. Matthew 24:1-2

¹ And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. ² And He answered and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

Jesus is here making a statement about the soon to be destroyed city of Jerusalem by the Roman General, Titus, in 70 AD.

2. Matthew 24:4-14

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. ⁵ “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. ⁶ “And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. ⁷ “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. ⁸ “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. ⁹ “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name. ¹⁰ “And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. ¹¹ “And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. ¹² “And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. ¹³ “But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved. ¹⁴ “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.

This portion is focused primarily on those things that will happen in general – that is, on “false Christs, wars, famines, earthquakes, persecution, apostasy and indifference, false prophets, genuine discipleship, and evangelism.” Therefore, let’s look at these various “forewarnings” as they apply to us today, and just what our response should be from a biblical perspective in practical, everyday life, which, after all, is where all of us live! In other words, if what we learn and study cannot translate to our real, everyday lives, then it is very likely not that which is truly biblical, but rather that which is “imaginary, biblical fodder” that we have ingested that is titillating to our “spiritual, intellectual, and emotional palates,” but it is only a “sugary” substitute for the true “meat” of the Word that changes us from the inside out to reflect the Life of Christ.

“Do not be misled”

This admonition in verse 4 covers the “false Christs,” as well as the “false prophets” in verse 11. The significance of this admonition, however, is that this is something that has applied to believers for the past 2000 years, and will continue to apply until Jesus returns. Jesus says “many will come in my name, . . . and will mislead many” (Matthew 24:5), from both the “false Christs” and “false prophets” perspective. How are they going to be able to do that? They will be able to do that by exploiting the ignorance of people concerning God’s Word and the place of the Cross in their lives – i.e., the degree to which Luke 9:23-24 is actively a part of their lives.

How important is God’s Word in your live on a daily basis?

Psalm 1 makes it very clear the benefit of having His Word as being the grid of our lives in all venues of our lives. The benefits of that man or woman who “meditates day and night” in God’s Word are enormous. The word for “delight” in the Hebrew in verse 2 is חֵפֶץ (hēphets), and it means “delight, desire, longing, and business.” For me, therefore, it is indeed “my delight,” but I must tell you that there are days when my schedule is such that I don’t “feel” like I have the time to take to read the Word devotion-ally. Consequently, I see the Word as “my business.” That is, it is indeed the very means by which I am able to function in all the venues of my life, and without it, I will fail (not succeed) and that failure will be in those areas described in verse 1 through lack of discernment and godly wisdom as a result of “leaning to my own understanding.” I have been there before, and I do not want to go back!

The Cross of Discipleship

The other vital aspect of our walk with the Lord so as not to be misled is the Cross of Discipleship as described in Luke 9:23-24: “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it’” (Luke 9:23-24).

The word for “deny” in the Greek is ἀρνέομαι (arneomai), and it means “to refuse to consent to something, to disclaim association with, and to refuse to pay attention to.” That is, we are “to refuse to consent to our narcissistic lusts,” whatever they might be (e.g., not just in the sexual arena, but with anger, pride, jealousy, etc.); we are “to disclaim association with our selfish, self-centered, egotistical motivations”; and we are “to refuse to pay attention to those thoughts that focus on our own exaltation, carnal and self-centered fulfillments at the expense of others, and the addictive emotion of self-pity.”

In addition, the verb form used in this passage indicates that we are to do this each time one of these sinful desires or inclinations begins to motivate our focus and actions. Thus, this is an all-day-and-every-day occurrence when we feel our thinking moving in the direction of the above thoughts (the verb form is an aorist active [deponent] imperative, which means you “start doing” whatever the verb is indicating). In addition, we have the adverb “daily” inserted here too, and in the Greek, it is καθ ̓ ἡμέραν (kath hēmeran), which literally means, “according/during the day.” That is, “all day, during the day.”

The other very important aspect of this passage is Jesus’ call in verse 24 for us to “lose our life in order to save it.” The word translated for “lose” in Greek is ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi), and it means “to lose, ruin, and destroy.” Thus, by one holding on to his life, versus laying it down for the sake of Jesus, rather than “saving his life,” he is going to end up doing the very thing he was hoping to avoid – he will actually “lose, ruin, and destroy” it.

The other important thing to note is that in verses 5 & 11, the word “many” is used to describe the number of false “Christs” and false “prophets” that will be coming, as well the number of people they will “mislead” – “many”! That brings up the important question, “Can a true, born again believer be misled by a false ‘Christ’ and a false ‘prophet’? And the answer is, “Yes, they can!” I have seen such with my own eyes, and I have also seen men who I consider to be godly pastors and teachers mislead people, and especially so in the area of eschatology. However, the thing I want to point out is that the adjective “many” is used to describe the number of people who will be misled, and in that “many” will not only be the obvious non-believers, but also, tragically, true believers who have not imbibed of God’s Word and taken up the Cross of Discipleship in a consistent, committed, and yielded manner.

All of us as believers at some point in our walk with the Lord have been “misled” by various and sundry things, from false teachings, to false leaders, to false and self-deceptive emotions from anger and revenge, to pride, to covetousness, etc. However, if we are a true, born-again child of God, God will, unequivocally, “discipline” us in order “that we will share His holiness” (Hebrews 12:10). Thus, the admonition that Jesus gives to “His disciples” is, “See to it that no one misleads you,” is meant for every born-again believer because the possibility exists that we could be. The phrase, “See to it,” in Greek is βλέπω (blepō), and it means “to be able to see, to pay especially close attention to something, to be ready to learn about something that is needed or is hazardous, and to process information by giving thought.” Therefore, that which Jesus is categorically and unequivocally calling us to do is to beware of false “Christs” and false “prophets” who say they either are “Christ,” or they know when and where He is coming – such individuals are false Christs and false prophets, and do not be taken in by them, nor by their teaching!

The other important thing to note is the actual word, “mislead,” which in Greek is πλανάω (planaō), and it means “to cause to go astray from a specific way, to be deceived, to proceed without a proper sense of direction, to be deluded and wander about aimlessly.” Thus, once again, to avoid this happening to you, your commitment to ingesting God’s Word and embracing the Cross of Discipleship is not optional – they are essential imperatives! But there is also another thing that is extremely important with regard to not being “misled,” and that is to look to Jesus as your ultimate leader, and the Holy Spirit as your ultimate teacher. God indeed gifts men to be pastors, teachers, and leaders, but they are not the ones through whose eyes you must look in order to understand and grasp the truth of God’s Word, nor are their teachings the “standard” that all teachings should be judged by! In I Corinthians 3:1-7, Paul says that those who advocate such things are at best “men of flesh” and “babes in Christ,” but it is to God, our ultimate and true source, that we must continually look.

Once again, God, without any question, gives us pastors and teachers to whom we are to show respect and be submitted to as the leaders whom God has called and placed in their position. However, we are to do so viewing them and what they say as being subordinate to the Lordship of Jesus and the final of His Word: “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7).

(We will look at more of these verses next week…)